


Mertensian Mimicry

by kerithwyn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Baby Not-Yoda POV, Flash Fic, Gen, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21522253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn/pseuds/kerithwyn
Summary: Mertensian mimicry describes the unusual case where a deadly prey mimics a less dangerous species.—WikipediaOr: Season 1 from a shorter, greener point of view.
Comments: 121
Kudos: 634





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Intention: to write from this perspective shortly after seeing each episode, without over-deliberation. (And subject to later revision.) Not sure it’s a sustainable POV, but I’m amused.
> 
> Chapter 6: A game of _Space Hulk._  
>  Chapter 5: ARE YOU EVEN KIDDING ME WITH THAT TITLE, DAVE FILONI.  
> Chapter 4: If you haven’t, watch Akira Kurosawa’s _Seven Samurai_ , and then _The Magnificent Seven_ (1960). Do not pass go.
> 
> Each chapter written in a quick burst and posted before I could overthink it.

She isn’t a baby.

Mammals, in general, respond positively to big eyes and small mouths. This is a fact of evolutionary biology, encouraging adults to care for small, helpless young.

She is small, though not helpless.

Her species’ minds mature long before their bodies. In a society comprised of those who can sense and manipulate the Life Wind, speech and motor skills develop later. She can read minds, but she cannot talk; she can raise objects, but she cannot walk.

In the wider galaxy, it can be useful to _look_ helpless. Since her abduction, she has been mindful to keep her advanced capabilities carefully concealed. She opens her eyes wide and blinks lovingly at her captors and makes appropriate cooing noises. She has value, so her captors feed and water and clean her and keep her safe from other predators. She allows it, watching, biding her time.

When the gunfire begins outside, she stretches out her mind to determine its source. She touches an intense presence, full of pride and resolve. Through the Force she feels a deep current of thoughtfulness that her current captors lack. He does not act from benevolence or compassion, but he may be willing to consider options the Weequays would not.

So she waits until the shooting stops and the door implodes and he approaches her transport. She prepares her best wide-eyed and helpless look and smiles inwardly as he instinctively defends her from the droid. A moment later, he destroys his own colleague rather than allowing her to be killed.

Potential, this one has. It's a good start. A very, very good start.


	2. The Child

A Mandalorian. _Intriguing._ Assuming he holds to the customs of his people, the Canons of Honor dictate....

But no, assumptions could be dangerous. His mind resonates strongly with determination, but to what purpose? Her sense of his mindscape did not include reading his specific thoughts; his natural mental fortitude blocks a casual scan, and deeper examination might alert him to her abilities.

Her transport egg floats along after him as she considers. And—there! He senses the Trandoshian ambush just as she does, a moment before it occurs. Not Force-sense, in his case, but honed warrior instinct. She watches approvingly as he dispatches the Trandoshians with relative ease. If nothing else, her new captor is eminently capable of protecting them both.

The wound on his arm might hinder that effort. Without thinking of consequence, she crawls from the transport and approaches, intending to heal with a touch. But of course he cannot discern her intent, and puts her off—twice!—before closing the egg for the night.

Just as well. She truly hadn’t meant to reveal herself, but that strong sense of willpower so rare among other species calls to her. If they are meant to travel together, the will of the Force will make itself known.

The morning brings them to his ship...and the Jawa scavengers who had done a fine job of dismantling it. She watches in disbelief as he assaults their sandcrawler, helplessly pulled along by his remote control of her egg. He makes a strong effort, better than could be expected, until they shoot him with ion blasters and he falls backward off their vehicle.

His life force remains strong, so she waits for his armor’s systems to reboot. That assault, so furious and immediate, both impresses and alarms her. His frustration as he takes stock of his ruined ship scratches against her mind, but he cannot take comfort in the flow of the Force, the knowledge that things are as they should be.

So, more travel on foot (and by egg) until they reach a helpful ally. While they discuss the next move, she hunts for interesting sustenance. The baby food the Weequays provided is nourishing but not tasty.

Annnnd then there’s more traveling, along the track of the Jawas. She has to admire his persistence, if not his wisdom.

That quickness to anger nearly ruins his chances to retrieve his ship parts. The Jawas finally decide on an appropriate trade, the retrieval of a creature’s egg. She does not miss the irony, or the implicit warning: he is a hunter of younglings at least twice now.

But this egg’s guardian proves more ferocious than the Weequays. And he—he is overmatched and about to be run over—

No. He is still her best chance of leaving this desert planet. She is not comfortable in the sun; her skin feels too dry and the glare hurts her eyes. She reaches out with the Force and lifts the creature from its feet, giving the Mandalorian the opening he needs to finish it.

And now she can only hope and trust in his yet-unproven honor, because the effort sends her down into the dreaming dark.


	3. The Sin

When she wakes, they are...elsewhere.

The Mandalorian’s mind is full of unequivocal intent, bent on a single goal. He speaks to someone on his comm but she is too distracted to listen. Something catches her eye, something she wants.

She crawls from the egg and reaches for the ball—it’s shiny, and her gums ache—but he moves it out of her reach. There’s a flash of something (guilt?) from his mind as he sets her back in the transport, but his course is set.

They land in another desert and enter a crowded, dirty city. The Mandalorian’s mind is shuttered now and she can’t read him at all. He knocks on a door and—

The Enemies emerge, the ones in white armor. The murderers. She ducks down, expecting the shooting to begin...but he follows them inside with her drifting along.

A man looks at her, all greed and ambition; another, a doctor, studies her with fascination through his scanner. The first says, “to the winner go the spoils” and oh, she is being _sold._ She makes a sound of protest but he does not waver.

She feels...betrayed. Even though he owes her nothing and made no promises. Not to her. He’d taken a contract and she is the bounty. 

As the doctor takes her away, the Mandalorian contemplates his thirty pieces of beskar. 

She is too stunned to think and honestly, still too tired from stopping the horned creature to effectively wield the Force. Is this...the way things must be? The will of the Force?

The doctor is not unkind, but when the tests begin she sends her mind away. They have her body. Her spirit remains free, though helpless.

Some time passes, she doesn’t know how much. 

Explosions bring her back to the now, groggy from the sedatives and her deep meditation. And she feels...oh.

Oh.

He came _back._ For her.

She can feel his conflict roiling through his otherwise-controlled emotions. His sense of honor and duty to sworn oaths warring with his need to protect...foundlings. Younglings. Her.

He takes her out of that place, killing as he goes. His mind is divided: anguish over betraying his oath, certainty that he has decided rightly, if not wisely.

They are surrounded by enemies. She closes her eyes and the possibilities of the next moments blossom in her inner vision. They could both die here so easily. 

The shooting begins. She hunkers down, trying to summon the Force to help but she is weak yet. Her fate rests entirely in his gun and his aim.

She makes a noise. If her mouth could form the words, she would say, “I trust you.”

They are pinned between enemies and she feels his despair—for himself, for her, for betraying his oaths and failing his people for nothing—

And then his people arrive, all armor and wrath, and through the blaster fire they make their escape.

They survive. They leave in his ship.

He gives her the ball.


	4. Sanctuary

The Mandalorian is strangely serene now that his choice has been made. But even if he doesn’t have regrets, the path ahead holds uncertainty. It would be wise, she judges, to remain quiet as they travel.

But the ship is full of things to _touch_ and _pull_ and _push._ He growls and puts the controls back where they were, and picks her up, and calls her “little womp rat.” It’s not dignified, but she can’t speak her name and he means it kindly. Even fondly.

They land on a planet—not a desert, thank the Force!—and he tells her to stay on the ship. Not a chance. And again, he sighs but doesn’t seem truly irritated. He is taking well to her training.

The tavern is full of people! And scary feline creatures! But mostly people not shooting each other! And delicious bone broth, which she drinks with glee. She’s so happy with the taste after days of generic youngling rations that it takes a moment to notice that he’s gotten himself lost again.

She totters after him, easy to follow with all the grunting and thumping noises. Humans are strange: first they fight, then they talk. Wouldn’t it be easier the other way around? She’ll have to ask once they establish better communication.

The Mandalorian is looking for a safe place, but the Fierce Woman says the planet is hers. He doesn’t argue, but as he’s preparing the ship to leave some villagers come and ask him for help. Mostly he wants to hide, and they offer shelter. She’s pleased when he asks the Fierce Woman to join them. Allies are always useful.

The children in the village surround her, giggling, and she smiles back. They’re innocent and ruthless and kind and cruel all at the same time, still growing into themselves.

The Soft Woman brings food and she can tell that he likes her. That’s good.

The children want her to play so she does, and it’s a lot of fun. The games are simple but challenging, especially with her small body. They make her feel like she truly is a child, and so she’s grateful when the Mandalorian and the Fierce Woman start teaching the villagers to protect themselves.

The Soft Woman, it turns out, isn’t as soft as she looks. That’s also good, because when the attack comes there’s a lot of shooting and yelling and a giant metal monster. She’s not really scared, though, because everyone is so determined to fight for their homes. The children huddle around her and it’s all very noisy until it isn’t, and the raiders are gone.

Weeks pass. She loves it here, even if the children don’t want her to eat the tasty frogs. He likes it too, and it starts to feel like a place like home (even though it’s nothing like home). 

But she’s still a bounty, and someone finds her. Them. So they cannot stay.

This is the will of the Force and she must accept it. But she watches the village for as long as she can, and wishes otherwise.


	5. The Gunslinger

She’s neither surprised that their ship is being shot at, nor particularly alarmed. The Mandalorian is intent but not panicked, and he quickly turns the hunter into space dust.

The ship running out of fuel is more alarming, but again, the Mandalorian has it under control. Which is good. All that spinning made her sleepy.

She wakes to the sound of something screaming. Startled, she screams back. She’s in the dark and alone. Not moving, so they’re on a planet. But he’s wandered off again without her and gotten into Force-knows-what trouble.

She sighs, tumbles out of her blanket, and manipulates the door lock until it opens. When the ship ramp lowers she sees another desert planet, a woman, and droids. Performance time: wide eyes, gentle coos, and in short order she’s fed, watered, and even cuddled. It’s nice. The Dusty Woman says that the Mandalorian will be back, so she’s content to wait. And nap.

...if he’s going to just show up and leave again, he could at least do so quietly. She and Peli—it’s only polite to start acknowledging the names of those who care for her, even if she doesn’t say them—have an understanding. She grins and coos at Peli just to show _him_ that he’s replaceable, and he takes off with his new associate.

She doesn’t like his new associate. He feels...slimy, but not in a good way like frogs. The Mandalorian doesn’t trust him, so she’s not worried. He took care of himself for a long time before he found her.

This would be a decent place, if not for the brutal sun and all the sand. Peli is nice, and the droids are funny. They’re not readable through the Force, but they have distinct personalities and respond to Peli like they’re alive. And they seem happy to play with her while Peli fixes the ship, or they’re programmed to act like they’re happy, and is there really any difference?

Slimy Man shows up without the Mandalorian and talks to Peli, but she doesn’t like him either. He confirms her good instincts by taking them both “hostage.” It’s more sad than scary, because she knows what’s going to happen to him.

And when the Mandalorian appears, it does. She uses the Force just a little to gently land behind some crates as the Slimy Dead Man falls.

She can only hope the Mandalorian’s learned his lesson about leaving her.


	6. The Prisoner

She’s back in the storage container again. That doesn’t bode well.

Unlike the last time, they’ve docked in a ship. She feels presences outside: hard, sharp, cruel. This time, she’s content to stay where she is. For now.

When the Mandalorian comes back, he’s not alone. Three spiky and vicious humanoids, the fourth radiating that odd sapience she feels from self-aware droids. Cold, calculating, lacking true emotions but moving through the galaxy with intelligence and self-determination. Not connected to the Force at all. She feels it like she would feel a rock or a gun, but the droid can make independent decisions. Not like Peli’s droids, unable to improvise past their programming. She can feel where this one is, but not what it intends. Distressing.

She’s so distracted by the droid that she loses track of the other three until the door to her compartment opens and they’re all staring at her. She plays cute, but they’re not interested. One of them picks her up and she doesn’t like that at all, especially when he pretends to drop her.

And then the ship bucks and spins and he does drop her, too suddenly for her to cushion the fall. The Mandalorian picks her up and checks her for injuries—she’s shaken but not hurt—and puts her back in the compartment. That’s...good. This once, she’d rather be left behind.

The Mandalorian cares for her, she can tell, and he wants to keep her safe. So why is he working with people who aren’t safe?

They’re gone a long time. Long enough that she needs to see what the droid is doing, because it’s been sitting where the Mandalorian pilots the ship and that’s not where it belongs.

It doesn’t seem to know what to make of her, so she tries a smile. It turns and reaches for a gun and she runs, using the Force to speed her to a hiding place. But the ship isn’t big enough to hide forever.

She played prey-and-hunter with Peli’s droids, so she knows some tricks, but the droid might be able to track her—not the way she can sense it, not at all, but with heat or movement. She evades it for a while, but eventually it backs her into a compartment. She reaches out with the Force to shove it back—

—and the droid explodes in a shower of sparking electronics and falls. She looks at her hand in amazement. The Force shouldn’t...she didn’t...

Then she sees the Mandalorian with his blaster behind the fallen droid. The universe realigns into understandable order. She nods to him with respect.

As they leave the Bad Ship, he unscrews the ball for her and says, “I told you that was a bad idea.” She would scream, but his relief and regret shout louder than her tiny voice ever could.


	7. The Reckoning

She wakes up cranky. It’s been stressful, all this flying around and betrayal. She tries to trust in the will of the Force, but without a solid foundation to rely on....

She can rely on the Mandalorian. She clings to that. And he doesn’t even try to leave her behind when they land, so he’s learning.

It’s a familiar planet! That’s a nice change. The Fierce Woman—Cara, her name is Cara, names are important—is pleased to see them, despite her words. She protests a lot but agrees to come with them for a mission that sounds complicated and dangerous. Operation. Firepower. Snare. The Mandalorian decided something while she was asleep.

They don’t stop to see Omera and Winta, which is disappointing. Maybe some other time.

Back on the ship she hides and listens carefully as the Mandalorian and Cara talk. Sorgan. Hunters. “The kid will never be safe until the Imp is dead.”

Oh. No. Things fall into place. He’s going to put himself in danger, again, to protect her. On purpose! She doesn’t like this plan at all. She would much rather go back to Sorgan and live with Omera and her people. The Mandalorian and Cara can protect everyone! She knows they can.

He won’t like it, but it’s her turn to make a difficult decision. She’s seen him fly the ship—it can’t be too difficult to turn it around—

The ship shakes and alarms blare. That’s not right! She tries again, but the Mandalorian takes the controls and sets them back on course. HIS course. He thinks she was just playing, but now he won’t leave her to try again.

They land on the planet where he first found her, and she found him. The ally here—Kuiil—feels...serene. At peace. His presence is kind and comforting.

The Mandalorian and Cara stand suddenly, blasters aimed at the door, every muscle on alert. It’s a droid, the droid the Mandalorian shot to save her. Kuiil explains that he’d reprogrammed it, but she’s too upset that she entirely missed it to pay attention to his story. She’s going to have to try harder to recognize droids from other objects. She’s starting to understand why the Mandalorian dislikes them so much.

Kuiil says this one is safe, but she’ll keep it in her awareness anyway.

Back in the ship she’s still on edge, half of her attention on the droid, when she sees the Mandalorian and Cara...fighting? He feels like he’s in pain, and it’s Cara’s fault somehow. That’s not allowed, she won’t allow it. She reaches out with the Force.

Something about this feels wrong, but she has to defend the Mandalorian the way he defends her. It’s _easy_ to stop Cara from hurting him. It’s even kind of....

The Mandalorian picks her up, not as carefully as he usually does, and yells at her to stop. He’s upset, Cara is upset, and she’s...confused. They’re all arguing, and it’s her fault. She sees she was wrong: They were just playing, and it’s like what she did with the ship again. Not at all what she meant.

She has a lot to learn, too.

She has a bad, bad feeling when they land on the planet where the Mandalorian (briefly) sold her to the Enemies. It gets worse when her new transport egg opens and an unknown man picks her up. He’s...unpleasant. Not in the way the Slimy Man was unpleasant, more...empty. No friends, no loyalty, no honor.

It’s so confusing, even when she’s back safe in the egg. She’s with people she trusts, but they keep working with others she doesn’t. Maybe this is something she won’t understand until she’s older, when she can ask the Mandalorian directly. 

Everyone acts friendly around the fire and there’s delicious meat, but then the flying things swoop down out of nowhere and it’s all running and screaming and shooting and she can’t help, all sealed in her transport. It’s awful and scary, until it’s over and the Mandalorian opens the egg. 

The Empty Man is badly hurt. Dying. She hesitates—is this a mistake like the ship? Like Cara?—but the wound screams to her. She can fix it. 

They all watch in amazement as she does.

She sits down hard, exhausted again. She doesn’t even feel it when she’s lifted into the egg to sleep.

In the morning the Empty Man feels...a little less empty. There’s another betrayal, but this time he’s on their side, at least for the moment. She’ll never figure them out.

It must really be dangerous, what they’re doing, because she’s sent back to the ship with Kuiil. They take the egg, so she bounces with Kuiil on his blurrg. 

She hears the Mandalorian tell Kuiil to run. She’s too far away to help and Kuiil’s grip is too tight to wriggle free. They run and run and then— and then—

She’s thrown to the ground, stunned. She can’t feel Kuiil or the blurrg through the Force. One of the Enemies scoops her onto a speeder.

Darkness, everywhere she looks.


	8. Redemption

She’s been stuffed into a bag, but the top isn’t tied. When the speeder stops she tries to peek out. The Enemy hits the top of the bag...and her head.

And then he does it again.

She could... _stop_ him. It would be easy. But then what?

Best to stay silent and wait. The longer she waits, the more time the Mandalorian and Cara have to find her. She trusts them to protect her.

Kuiil tried to protect her.

She’s still thinking about him—mourning—when the other one starts poking her.

She bites him. It’s rude and undignified and he responds by punching her, much harder than the first one, and that’s enough. As soon as her head stops ringing she’s going to—

Then, _again,_ the droid appears without forewarning in her awareness. It identifies itself as her “nurse droid” and quickly, efficiently puts the Enemies down. Its programming held. Kuill saved her through this...being.

She’ll trust it, for his memory. She doesn’t actually have any other choice.

The Mandalorian’s voice comes over the comm. It’s very, very good to hear him. She’d been afraid—

Fear—she knows this!—is the venom that paralyzes. She must be alert now. She’d been afraid he was dead. Now she knows he is not. That fear is gone, and in its place lives hope.

The droid goes very, very fast on the speeder. Suddenly they’re in the town and the droid is shooting the white-armored Enemies with every pass. It’s wrong to laugh at their deaths. She laughs anyway.

She _feels_ when the Mandalorian suffers an intense blow to his head. It’s bad. The droid brings her to him and Cara and the Empty—Carga. They’re all together now, in shelter, but the Mandalorian is...his thoughts are fuzzy. He tells Cara to watch over her. He thinks he’s dying.

His name is Din Djarin.

He doesn’t think of himself by that name, not really. He’s just the Mandalorian. The same way her name isn’t...her, anymore. Not really.

She wants to heal him, but before she can move their shelter bursts into flames. It’s an Enemy with a gun that throws fire and she sees, very clearly, what happens next: They all die.

She won’t allow it.

The fire comes for them. She holds it, gathers it...and sends it back to its source.

It takes all she has.

Cara takes her and they climb down and she can’t even protest. She holds onto the thin thread of the Mandalorian’s consciousness, expecting it to fade any moment. 

But it doesn’t. He feels _stronger_ somehow, and shortly after that the droid brings him down to them. He’s still hurt, but maybe not dying. Maybe—yes. He’s better, thinking clearer, leading them toward—

Oh, no. His people were...so many were killed, after they came to help the first time she was here. So many dead.

All of this, to protect her.

The woman in Mandalorian armor is very, very strong. Righteous. A leader. She reminds the Mandalorian of their Creed to protect foundlings. She says he must take the foundling home.

That...isn’t possible. She wishes she could tell him why. Even if she had the voice for it, she would lack the words.

The Righteous Woman says, “you are as its father.”

What can she do, but coo in agreement? This is, without question, the Way. And the will of the Force.

They leave to find a ship. She’s very, very tired of the running and fighting, but they’re not safe yet. It’s too hot on the lava river. Enemies behind, Enemies ahead, and the droid....

The droid clears the way with its own destruction. It—it chooses to sacrifice itself. For her.

She didn’t know droids could do that!

The droid—no. IG-11 is a _person._ Was a person. Maybe it was a person before when it tried to kill her, but Kuill made it better.

She needs to think about it a lot more when there isn’t a Very Bad Ship overhead, shooting at them. Carga wants her to—ridiculous. If she could do the “magic hand thing” she might throw him at the ship. She can’t help but wave back at him, mocking. She’s calm, almost serene. What will be....

What is, as the Mandalorian learns to fly. It’s his best trick yet. She’s not even worried as the ship explodes and he falls. He’s okay, they’re all okay. Except the ones who died, and she will remember them so that one day, she can tell their stories.

Cara decides to stay here, which is sad. Carga does too, which isn’t. She’s ready to go and the Mandalorian is too: into the sky, back to his ship. 

As he fires up the ship, she chews happily on the necklace that Cara put around her neck, the Mandalorian’s sigil. He seems happy to see it, and to let her keep it. Because they are a clan of two.

He doesn’t know where they’re going. Neither does she.

They’ll find out together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and commenting on this very off-canon story, y'all. It's been a strange trip.
> 
> See you for Season 2!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Thirty Pieces of Beskar](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21537901) by [kerithwyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn/pseuds/kerithwyn)
  * [Other Worlds Than These](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21736594) by [kerithwyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn/pseuds/kerithwyn)




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